Sanitary napkin support belt

ABSTRACT

A SIMPLE SANITARY NAPKIN SUPPORT BELT IS FORMED OF ELASTOMERIC PLASTIC FILM, AND IT IS USEFUL FOR SUPPORTING A MENSTRUAL NAPKIN IN A FUNCTIONAL POSITION ON A FEMALE TORSO. A SINGLE WAIST BELT CAN FIT A MAJORITY OF FEMALE TORSO SIZES WITH NO MECHANICAL ADJUSTMENT AND THE NAPKIN SUPPORT STRAPS FIT WITH MINIMUM MECHANICAL ADJUSTMENT. THE BELT IS SUFFICIENTLY LOW COST TO BE DISCARDED AFTER USING FOR ONE MENSTRUAL PERIOD.

United States Patent [72] Inventor John Leslie Jones, Sr.

1070 Glen Oaks Blvd.. Pasadena, Calif.

[21] Appl. No. 869.241

[22] Filed Oct. 24, 1969 [45] Patented June 28, 1971 Continuation-impartof application Ser. No. 814.008, Apr. 4, 1969.

[54] SANITARY NAPKlN SUPPORT BELT 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

52 11.5.0 128/291 511 im. c1 A6lf 13/16 501 Field olSearch 128/289,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,745,406 5/1956 Kenner128/291 3,057,354 10/1962 Roberts et al..... 128/289 3,313,300 4/1967Mathison et a1. 128/289 3,461,873 8/1969 Torres 128/289 FOREIGN PATENTS724,501 2/1955 Great Britain 128/289 Primary Examiner-Charles F.Rosenbaum Attorney-J. L. Jones ABSTRACT: A simple sanitary napkinsupport belt is formed of elastomeric plastic film, and it is useful forsupporting a menstrual napkin in a functional position on a femaletorso. A single waist belt can fit a majority of female torso sizes withno mechanical adjustment and the napkin support straps fit with minimummechanical adjustment. The belt is sufficiently low cost to be discardedafter using for one menstrual period.

PATENIEU JUN28 I97! INV ENTOR SANITARY NAPKIN SUPPORT BELT CROSSREFERENCES This patent application is a continuation-in-part of mycopending application Ser. No. 814,008 filed Apr. 4, 1969 teaching asanitary belt, and also relates to my copending applications Ser.Nos.'720,500 and 742,922 teaching sanitary napkins. Further, thisapplication relates to my US. Pat. application Ser. No. 720,502, for asanitary belt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sanitary belts partially made of rubberizedelastic webbing have been conventionally used for decades, to supportmenstrual napkins in the functional position on the female torso. Thewaist belts are constructed with separate adjustable fasteners, so thebelts are mechanically adjustable over a large range oftorso sizes.

Before using the present commercial belt, each female must mechanicallyadjust the waist belt to her waist size. The belts are not extremely lowin cost; hence, they are customarily bought separately from the napkinsand reused by females for a large number of menstrual periods. For thisreason, the female customarily keeps the napkin support belt in storageat home between menstrual periods, using it during her menstrual period.

Although menstrual napkins are widely sold at many types of retailstores and other outlets for quick demand, the lack of quick access to asanitary napkin support belt at the required time can be verydiscomforting to the female. This invention teaches a very inexpensivesanitary belt which can be placed in each commercial retail package ofsanitary napkins and sold as a part ofthe retail package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION On an endless, circular waist belt, two napkinsupport straps are slidably secured. The two support straps are mountednormal to the waist belt, when the belt is in the normal functionalwaisthip position on a female torso.

The thin, highly elastic, plastic film waist belt is sealed into onepiece. The waist belt plastic composition has a low tensile force afterplacement on the user's torso, due to a short stress relaxation time atthe body temperature of98.6 F.

The two narrow, thin, plastic napkin support straps can have highertensile strength than the waist belt. Each thin support strap is doublepassed through at least two openings ofa plural loop slide, the slideopening spacing adapted to confine each two layers of a support strap ina frictional brake compressive means. The relatively immovable returnloop thereby formed by the two layers, supports a sanitary napkin at aslot opening taught in my copending application Ser. No. 742,922.

The sanitary napkin support belt can be formed of a plasticizedpolyvinyl chloride composition. The waist belt can be stretched to fit awide range of female hip and waist contour sizes, utilizing only onemanufactured nominal waist perimeter.

Included in the objects of this invention are:

First, to provide an inexpensive and compact menstrual napkin supportbelt having simple separate mechanical slide securing components for thenapkin support straps.

Second, to provide a simple menstrual napkin support belt, which willfit a wide range of female torso sizes, with separate simple mechanicalslide linkages or fasteners, operating in frictional brake compressivemeans.

Third, to provide a low cost sanitary belt which can be en closed in acommercial retail package ol menstrual napkins. to be used with thenapkins in the package and then discarded Fourth, to provide low cost,easily manufactured sanitary napkin support belt made of components ofelastouu-ric plastic film, the waist belt having a very low modulus ofelasticity in tension and a short elongation recovery time.

Other objects and advantages ofthis invention are taught in thefollowing description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective view of theimprovement in a menstrual sanitary napkin support belt.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the slit securing means disposed ineach napkin support strap of the sanitary napkin support belt.

FIG. 3a is an enlarged elevational view of the adjustable return loop,frictional brake compressive strap securing means, useful for thesanitary napkin of U.S. application Ser. No. 742,922 or the like.

FIG. 3b is a sectional view through 3-3 of FIG. 3a illustrating furtherdetails ofthe frictional brake compressive securing means of thisinvention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another plural loop opening slide fastenerwhich can be useful in forming an adjustable return loop, frictionalbrake, compressive strap securing means.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of a female torso illustrating theapplication of the sanitary napkin support belt of this invention, infunctional position, supporting a menstrual napkin taught by thecopending patent applications Ser. Nos. 720,500 and 744,922.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 in detail,the sanitary napkin support belt 1 is shown in perspective view, havinga highly elastic, plastic film, endless waist belt 2 and two narrow,thin, napkin support straps 3 and 4. The front napkin support strap 3 istypically shorter than the rear napkin support strap 4. The front strap3 and the rear strap 4 are both mounted on the waist belt 2 at theirrespective first terminuses 5 and 6, by their respective single mountingslit openings 7 and 8. The waist belt 2 is typically sealeddielectrically at an overlap 9, to form an endless belt perimeter, aftermounting the two straps 3 and 4 at the slit openings 7 and 8respectively.

The two-loop slide fasteners 10 and 11 are shown in FIG. I, slidablymounted on the narrow straps 3 and 4 respectively, each strap beingthreaded through both loops of the two-loop slides 10 and 11. Typically,the napkin support straps 3 and 4 are 13 in. and 22 in. longrespectively, and both are typically in. wide by 0.012 in. thick.

The single slit opening 7 ofthe first terminus 5 ofthe napkin supportstrap 3 is shown in FIG. 2. The strap 3 is illustrated mounted on theflat waist belt 2. The single slit opening 7 adapts the strap 3 to beeasily turned over if necessary, to place the required obverse face ofthe strap 3 in the needed direction when in use on a torso. The singleslit opening 7 is also easy to automatically thread on a waist belt 2progenitor, prior to automatically sealing the belt into an endless belt2.

The belt 2 is illustrated as flat and rectangular in cross section;however, the belt can be circular or elliptical or square and othertypical cross sections. Hence, the slit opening 7, and the like, can becorrespondingly circular, elliptical, square or the like in shape, asfully equivalent to the slit opening 7. Typically the waist belt can beVa in. diameter, 0.0IXV2 in., 0.0 l 3X% in. or the like in crosssection, as required.

The details of the adjustable return loop, frictional brake, compressivestrap securing means are shown in FIGS. 30 and 3b. The perspective viewof FIG. 3a illustrates an adjustable length napkin support loop 30,threaded through the napkin slot 31, of the napkin 32, which is taughtin US. application Ser. No. 742,922. The strap 3 is shown returnthreaded twice through the two loop slide fastener 10, the second strapterminus l2 being threaded through the fastener 10 after passing throughthe napkin slot 31, to form the return loop 30. Thus, the tensile loadedreturn loop length 33 in use can be adjusted in length as required, byadjusting the length of strap 3 which secured in the length 33. I

Further details of the frictional brake function of the napkin strapsecuring means are shown in the enlarged sectional view FIG. 3b, takenthrough 3-3 of FIG. 3a. The two loop slide fastener 10 has a pair ofslot openings 34 and 35, which are bounded by the slide bars 36, 37 and38. The plastic strap 3 is shown double threaded through the slide 10cross section,

placing the plastic strap 3 in compression over the width 39 of theslide 10. When the tensile loaded strap 3 is loaded in the tension forcedirection indicated by arrow 40 in FIG. 3a, the two portion lengths ofthe strap 3 which pass through the slot openings 34 and 35 arecompressively secured against their respective contiguous faces of theslide bars 36, 37, and 38 as indicated by the compressive force arrows41, 42, and 43 respectively. The compressive yielding of the softplastic straps 3 and 4, typically having a Durometer Shore A hardness of60-80 or the like, produces a strong nonslip braking force on the napkinsupport straps 3 and 4, or the like. Thus the compressed portions ofstrap 3, pushing against slide bars 36, 37 and 38, form a type offrictional brake system, somewhat similar to a standard vehiclefrictional brake. The coefficient of friction of the slide bars 36, 37and 38 can be further amplified by coating the slide fastener with a lowcompressive strength polyvinyl chloride plastisol, by known technique.The thin PVC coating 44 on the metal slide base can further increase thefriction coefiicient between the slide fastener 10 and the adjacentportions of the strap 3. The compressive, frictional brake securingmeans of strap 4 and fastener 11 is fully equivalent to that of strap 3and fastener 10.

A further slide fastener 50 modification is shown in plan.

view in FIG. 4, wherein the fastener has three slot openings 51, 52, 53and the four slide bars 54,55, 56, 57. The slide bars 5457 can be roughsurfaced, to further increase the coefficient of friction in thefrictional brake means. The slide fastener 50 can be cheaply molded ofplastic.

Typically the napkin support straps, 3 and 4 and the like, can range inthickness from 0.008 to 0.020 in., and can be the width required tosupport the napkin 32 at the slot 31, or the like. The surfacesmoothness of the straps 3 and 4, or the like, can range from a polishedglass smoothness to a roughness corresponding to an embossed simulatedlinen weave, or the like.

The low density polyethylene has a sufficiently low durometer hardnessto deform under tension and form a frictional brake binding strap loop30, or the like. However, the polyethylene tends to cold stretch and itis more rigid compared to a properly plasticized polyvinyl chloride filmcomposition, and also has a harsher feel to the body. Typically aplasticized polyvinyl chloride film containing 38 to 44 percent dioctylphthalate as plasticizer is sufficiently elastic, soft to the skin, anddeformable, to function in the frictional brake, napkin support strapsecuring means. The plasticized film should not contain toxicstabilizers and the like, which could irritate the skin. Further, byprior cold stretching of the film napkin support straps, one caneffectively utilize the elastic memory of plasticized polyvinylchloride. The elastic memory of the film will tend to contract the strapon use at body temperature, tending to keep a napkin tightly positionedagainst the vaginal opening.

FIG. 5 illustrates the functioning of the menstrual sanitary napkinsupport belt 1 of this invention. The belt 1 is shown in normalfunctional position on the female torso 60. The waist belt 2 encirclesthe torso 60 in a region between the waist and hip. Due to theelasticity of the waist belt 2 and its short stress relaxation time thebelt 2 can be stretched from its typical normal manufactured perimeterof 26 in. to 40 in. or more. Typically the single waist belt perimeterof 26 in. can fit females wearing dress size regular 7 to dress sizeregular 36. The above range of dress sizes correspond to a waist of 22%in. and hip of 32 in. for dress size regular 7, to a waist of3l in. andhip of 40 in. for dress size regular 36, according to the US. DepartmentofCommerce Report CS 215-58. 215-58.

After functional placement of the waist belt 2, the rear napkin supportstrap 4 can be slid to the front of the torso and the menstrual sanitarynapkin 32' threaded through a napkin slot and looped upward to form along return loop secured by the slide fastener 11, as illustrated inFIG. 3a, or the like. It should be noted that the slide fastener 11 ispositioned up near the waist or hip position of the waist belt 2perimeter, in order to place the fastener 11 in a position where it willlie flat against the female back, not in the crotch. After returningstrap 11 to the rear, the napkin 32' is centered in place, over thevaginal opening and the front napkin support strap 3 threaded throughthe front napkin slot 31 of FIG. 5, and then formed I into a shortreturn loop 30' secured by the slide fastener 10, as

in FIG. 3a, or the like, pulling the napkin into a tight confrontingposition, to receive the discharged menstrual fluid from the vaginalopening.

Since the loops are infinitely adjustable in length, the napkin'can thusbe secured in front of the vaginal opening with the desired degree ofnapkin tightness, to receive fluid. Napkin tightness is a most importantparameter in the social security of the female using the sanitarynapkin, in order to positively receive all menstrual fluid discharge onthe napkin.

The specific properties of suitable polyvinyl chloride compositionscontaining 38-43 percent equivalent of DOP ester plasticizer is listedbelow in Table I.

The numbers are ASTM test procedures.

The plastic compositions having these properties are particularly softin feel, and elastic enough to form the waist belt and support strap ofthis invention. From the viewpoint of the users torso comfort it is veryimportant that the abovedescribed compositions have a short stressrelaxation time at body temperature (98.6 F.). Thus, the stretchedplastic waist belt rapidly assumes a low tensile force after placementon a users torso. The plastic softness greatly reduces the chafingpotential of the napkin support strap in use.

Other plastic compositions which can comply with the above type range ofphysical properties can be used. The

.plastic composition must be nontoxic. This invention is notspecifically limited to polyvinyl chloride plasticized filmcompositions.

This inventive advance in sanitary support belts functionally providesvery effective heat transfer from the female torso to the closelyconfronting sanitary napkin worn adjacent the vaginal opening. Hence,the body heat functions very effectively to rapidly evaporate theapproximately percent moisture from the menstrual fluid absorbed on thenapkin. The present conventional commercial sanitary napkins, incombination with the conventional support belt, are not effective inholding the napkin in a position to effectively raise the heat transferrate to a commercial absorbent pad. In addition, the commercial napkinis a very effective heat insulator, not a good heat transfer path means.Hence, the combination of the napkins disclosed in Ser. Nos. 720,500 and742,922 and the sanitary belt of this invention represents an importantinventive advance in the art.

Other waist strap and napkin support strap geometrical variations indimensions can be made without departing from the scope of thisinvention. Many modifications and variations of my improvements in thissanitary napkin support belt can be made in light of my teachings. It istherefore understood that within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. A sanitary napkin support belt comprising:

a. an elastomeric plastic, endless waist belt, having an unstressedperimeter elastically adapted to snugly fit at least minimum femaletorso, dimensions, said plastic belt having low tensile force and shortstress relaxation time at human body temperature;

c. a pair of plural adjustable loop, compressive frictional brake, strapsecuring means, one strap securing means disposed on each napkin supportstrap, each strap securing 2. A sanitary napkin support belt of claim Iin which each said napkin support strap is slidably mounted on a singleopening in said first strap terminus.

3. A sanitary napkin support belt of claim I in which said plastic waistbelt and plastic napkin support straps have the elastomeric physicalproperties described within the ranges of Table l. v p

4. A sanitary napkin support belt of claim 3 in which the plastic waistbelt and the plastic napkin support straps are plasticized polyvinylchloride compositions.

5. The sanitary napkin support belt of claim 1 in which the plural loopslides each have two loop openings.

